There can be only one, that one is Gasperini - Roma have sacked Ranieri

There can be only one — that was the motto of the cult film Highlander, and it turned out to be true in Roma’s case. Especially true when the two most important figures in the sporting sector — head coach Gian Piero Gasperini and the American owners’ advisor Claudio Ranieri — simply cannot stand each other.

Somewhat surprisingly, considering they are both elderly: Gasperini is 68, Ranieri 74 — and yes, both are indeed gray-haired. But they couldn’t work together, and the management had to choose. They sided with the head coach.

A dramatic fallout between Gasperini and Ranieri

Ranieri, meanwhile, has ended his ten-month stint as an advisor, even though he had a contract until 2027. It’s not official yet, but only because the club is figuring out how to present it as a mutual termination.

It isn’t mutual. After a public spat between Ranieri and Gasperini, the Friedkin family chose the latter. To be fair, Ranieri struck first when he openly criticized Gasperini in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.

“We had a list of five or six coaches, three didn’t come, and in the end the club made its choice. It chose Gasperini because of what he did at Atalanta with young players… We gave him a team that finished last season just one point short of the Champions League and many young players to develop,” Ranieri said, alluding to Gasperini’s complaints about the quality of signings, with the exception of Donyell Malen.

Relations immediately cooled, and about a week later Gasperini had no choice but to respond, as journalists kept asking him about it.

“That interview came out on Friday, and Ranieri created a situation — for me, an incredible surprise. There had never been any tension between us before. I didn’t expect this. Throughout all these years, I haven’t been exposed to this kind of tone. Our fans don’t deserve this charade, but don’t put us on the same level, because I neither attacked nor responded,” Gasperini said.

In the end, the owners had to step in. They genuinely counted on both men, but they no longer had any options. They had already tried Ranieri as a coach last season. Now they tried him as an advisor, but after ten months they realized it wasn’t working.

The man who famously won the Premier League title with Leicester in 2016 was called to a meeting at Trigoria yesterday, where he was told it couldn’t continue. Ranieri didn’t make a fuss, but once again — this is not a mutual agreement. This is a dismissal. The Friedkins tried to reconcile the feuding sides, and when they saw it was impossible, they made a clean cut.

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And Ranieri’s departure may not be the only one. Gazzetta dello Sport reports that sporting director Frederic Massara could face the same fate. He never saw eye to eye with Gasperini and relied on his friendship with Ranieri.

Now that support is gone, so too may be his contract, which runs until 2028. Gasperini would reportedly prefer to work with Cristiano Giuntoli, the former sporting director of Napoli and Juventus. Other names mentioned include D’Amico (Atalanta), Sogliano (Verona), and Manna (Napoli).

It may not end there either, as members of the sporting department — such as the medical staff and a good portion of the coaching staff — reported directly to Ranieri. There are even unconfirmed rumors that this was the very issue that caused everything to escalate.